Amsterdam and the Start of Our Post Trip 4-5 December 2019

Amsterdam and the Start of Our Post Trip 4-5 December 2019

Our ship arrived in Amsterdam in the early morning hours.  As we were staying in Amsterdam after the cruise, we had to be off the ship by 8 AM.  After breakfast, the Stevens and we gathered our luggage and walked to the Luxor Hotel which was about ¼ mile away from the ship.  It was cold and a light drizzle was falling as we trooped our way to the hotel.  Dragging two suitcases over the cobblestone sidewalks and tram tracks in the road was not an easy task.  One of the things to remember when walking around Amsterdam is to watch out for the bikes.  It doesn’t matter if you have the green light, the cyclists believe they have the right of way and will not stop.  If you are in their way, they will ring their little (annoying!) bell to warn you and you had better jump out of the way!!!

St. Nicolas Basilica

As we walked, we passed by St. Nicolas Basilica, Amsterdam’s main Catholic Church.  It was built in 1884-87 as the harbor church.  It wasn’t until 1850 (over 300 years after the Protestant Reformation) that Catholics were once again given the right to build their own churches in Amsterdam. 

When we got to the hotel, we knew our rooms would not be ready, but the hotel receptionist was very friendly and helpful.  He got us checked in and stored our luggage.  Our hotel is located along the edge of the “Red Light District” of Amsterdam.  While it has beautiful canals and historic buildings, it is best known for its “ladies of the night.”  As you walk along this district you can see these ladies in the rose-lit windows of quaint buildings, usually braiding their hair, doing their nails, working on crossword puzzles, or reading books while waiting for their next customer.  These businesswomen (and some men) are registered, regulated, taxed, and have been represented by a union since 1984.  It is not allowed to take any photographs of the people in the windows.

Oudezijids Kolk Canal Homes

No Problem Parking This Car

We then went out to explore Amsterdam.  We had a walking tour that took us around the Red Light District and other close by points of interest.  We walked along the narrow streets by the canals admiring the old homes that were built right next to the canals. This area is called Oudezijids Kolk, one of only three locations in Amsterdam where there are no streets alongside the canals.   In the Middle Ages, Amsterdam looked more like Venice with homes built literally in the water next to the canals.  Boats were the main source of transportation.  It wasn’t until much later that the narrow streets that run along the canals were built to accommodate horse-drawn carriages and, of course, cars and bicycles today. In some of the canals, the homes were riverboats parked along the canal. 

Da Waag

White Clothes Hanging from a Canal boat

We walked past the Da Waag, the old Weigh House, that is now a very famous, up scale restaurant.  Built in 1488, this is Amsterdam’s oldest, non-religious building.  On one canal there were several houseboats where people had strung a clothesline across the top of the boat and hung white pieces of clothing.  The garments are from different parts of the world (e.g., Jewish dress, Moroccan dejellaba, western underwear) to represent the cultural and ethnic mix of the people of Amsterdam and a statement by the artist (Sergey Kim) that we should not fear foreigners.  By now we were a little cold, so we stopped at Mr. Tom’s restaurant for a cup of delicious hot chocolate.  That was what we needed to keep us going forward.

Houseboats Along the Canal

Comes with a Lawn Roof and a Porch

Zuiderkerk

We then came to a building that looked like a church, but it had no name on it.  After much searching on the internet, I believe that this was the old Zuiderkerk, the first Protestant Church in Amsterdam.  It was built in the early 1600s but stopped being a church in 1929.  During WWII, it was used as a morgue and today serves as a municipal information center.  Three of Rembrandt’s children are buried here.

Montelbaans Tower

We then walked down to Montelbaans Tower, once part of the medieval city wall.  It was built in 1516.  Although the city walls were taken down in 1585 to make room for the expansion of the city, the tower remained, and in response to citizens’ requests for a public time-keeping facility, clocks were added to the tower in 1606.  However, the clocks were not always accurate and would start chiming at odd hours, thus earning the Tower the nickname “Crazy Jack.”

Food Left for the White Horse

Walking back to our hotel, we visited the Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder – the Museum of our Lord in the Attic (also called Our Lady of the Attic).  After the Reformation, Catholic churches were banned in the city.  A Catholic merchant, who lived in a 1640s Queen Anne-style home only a few houses from the Oude Kerk (Old Church), built a catholic church in the attic of his house in 1663.  The interior of the floors below the attic are one of the last remaining original 17^th century canal house interiors.  Because of the plain, modest exterior, it was very difficult to locate which building actually housed the church.  Today it is a museum with the lower interiors and the church exactly as they were in the 1600s.  One of the interesting items on the ground floor were the wooden shoes filled with carrots and hay that were left in front of the fireplace by children for Sinterklaas’s horse.  For Dutch children St. Nicholas Day on 6 December is like our Christmas and Santa Claus.  Sinterklaas is a kindly bishop dressed in red robes and a tall, pointed hat on his head.  He rides a white horse and has a sack full of gifts for the children.  He arrives by boat from Spain every winter with his horse, and everyone travels to the Amsterdam harbor to greet him.  There is then a big parade that ends in Dam Square by the Royal Palace where the Queen welcomes him to Amsterdam.  If a child is well-behaved, he or she will find candy and little surprises in the wooden shoes the next morning.

Attic Church

It was a steep walk up the creaky wooden stairs to the church in the attic, but it was well-worth it.  The church could seat up to 150 people and the interior is filled with sculptures and paintings.  And the organ, as old as the house itself, is still played today.

Oude Kerk

Our last stop was at the Oude Kerk (Old Church) which is not only the oldest church in Amsterdam, but also the oldest building.  The church was built in 1213 and its bells date back to 1450.  Built originally as a small wooden Catholic Chapel, it was rebuilt of stone in the Gothic style during the late 1200s.  It served as a welcoming home to sailors and the poor and downtrodden.  After the Reformation it became a Reformed Protestant Church  which it still is today.  Over 10,000 Amsterdam residents, including Rembrandt’s wife Saski, are buried beneath the floors of the Church.  As  it was past lunchtime and we were hungry, we did not go inside.

The Stevens had arranged for another walking tour, so we said goodbye to them and went to the Dolce Vita, a small restaurant across from our hotel.  Bill was longing for a good hamburger (which he got) and I ordered a small pizza.  We just sat there for a couple of hours sipping our wine and watching the people on the street.  They were very slow in getting us our check – we think, as they had us seated by the window, that they thought it might attract more business if people saw patrons inside the restaurant.  We then went back to the hotel and checked into our room.  It is not a very large room, but it was nice.  We rested a little as we were going to walk down the Dam Square to enjoy the Christmas lights before going to dinner.

Red Light District at Night

We met up with the Stevens and started walking down to the Dam Square (the main square of Amsterdam and the location of the Royal Palace).  This was the site of the original Amstel Dam which was built in 1270 over the Amstel River.  As the city grew and expanded, the area around the dam was filled in and created what is now the historic center of Amsterdam.  As we walked, we noticed the holiday lights above the streets.  Each district of Amsterdam had its own light design and display. 

AIDS Awareness Statuee

In Dam Square we stopped at a pink statue of a woman that was built for Aids Awareness.  Every 40 seconds the woman cries as every 40 seconds someone dies of Aids.  Next to Dam Square is the National Monument, built in 1956, as a reminder of the suffering and lives lost during WWII.  The obelisk is surrounded by sculptured figures of men, dogs and birds.  The front of the monument has two male figures that represent the Dutch Renaissance Movement while on either side of them are figures that represent the intellectuals and the working class.  The dogs stand as a symbol of loyalty and doves represent freedom and liberation.  The woman and child symbolizes victory, peace and new beginnings.  Behind the monument are urns that hold the soil from WWII cemeteries and execution sites.

National Monument

Royal Palace in Dam Square

We walked back to our hotel and had dinner at the Het Karbeel, a fondue restaurant just across the street from our hotel.  It was very, very good fondue – even better than the fondue we had in Switzerland.  We all had the cheese fondue, although the Stevens ordered one that had some herbs included.  We all thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Mint Tower

The next morning, we continued our walk around Amsterdam.  We walked to the Munt (Mint) Tower which was once part of the old city walls.  It is located where the Amstel River once entered the city during the Middle Ages.  Built during the 15^th century, it survived the fire of 1618 that destroyed much of the city walls.  During a reconstruction several years later, clock faces and a carillon of bells were added.  While the original bells are now in the Amsterdam Museum, the replacement set still chimes every 15 minutes with a live concert on Saturdays from 2-3 PM.  The tower got its name Mint Tower during the Dutch war with England and France in the 1670s.  It was too risky to move money minted at the established mint, so they turned the Tower into a temporary mint.

From the Tower we walked to the Begijnhof, a cluster of charming middle-aged homes in one of Amsterdam’s oldest courtyards.  It was here that older religious Catholic women (many widows) lived.  One house, built in 1425, is Amsterdam’s oldest and one of only two timber homes left in the city.  After many destructive fires in Amsterdam, city builders were only permitted to build brick homes.  The Begijnhof was established in the 14^th century, and although these women lived like nuns, they had more freedom and independence.  They were allowed to own their own homes.  After the Reformation, the women were allowed to keep their homes but they had to give up their church.  Like the Museum of our Lord in the Attic, they created a hidden church behind some of the facades of their homes.

Begijnhof Chapel

Inside the Begijnhof Chapel

Begijnhof

Oldest Timber Home in Amsterdam

We continued our walk by the Magna Plaza which has a large, beautiful 19^th century building that was once the Post Office.  Today it is one of the few shopping malls in Amsterdam.  Across from this building is the Gothic Nieuwe Kerk (New Church).  Built between the 15^th and 17^th centuries, it has been the site of all the inaugurations of the Kings and Queens of Amsterdam.  Since 1815 it has been the National Church.  Today the building is used for exhibits and is no longer an active church.

Magna Plaza

New Church

Pigeons in Dam Square

As we entered Dam Square from New Church, we were immediately surrounded by hundreds of pigeons.  It was reminiscent of St. Mark’s Square in Venice.  We wandered around and finally found an Irish bar in the White Tulip Hostel where we had fish and chips for lunch and then returned to our hotel.

Amsterdam Train Station

Tonight we had booked a canal boat ride to see Amsterdam’s Festival of Lights.  Before going to the canal boat dock, we walked across the street to the Train Station.  Perhaps the most striking building in Amsterdam is the Central Train Station.  Built in the Gothic, Renaissance Revival style, it opened in 1889.  More than 250,000 people travel through the station each day.  We will use the station when we travel from Amsterdam to Bruges tomorrow, so we checked it out when we bought our tickets.  There was a transportation strike going on in France, so the ticket agent recommended we take a more local train where we had to change trains in Antwerp as he could not guarantee that the express train would be operating tomorrow.  He then let us into the main station so we could find the platform that we would be leaving from.  It is always nice to be prepared.

We then walked across the street to where our canal boat would depart and boarded our boat.  While the lights along the canal were pretty, the Festival was a big disappointment.  The theme of the show was “Disrupt,”  and at times it was difficult to assimilate the theme with what we were seeing.  International and national artist created 25 light sculptures along the canals.   Most of the time there did not appear to be any connection at all between the display and the theme.  It was a huge disappointment!

Festival of Lights-Lily Pads

Festival of Lights-Lightning on Tower 

To make up for it, we walked back to our hotel and pizza and wine at the Dolce Vita.  They do make a very good pizza.  We had planned to go to a restaurant just a short distance from the hotel that specialized in rijsttafel  (rice table), an Indonesian recipe that consists of many small side dishes accompanied by rice served in a variety of ways.  However, after  our large Irish pub lunch,  none of us was  hungry enough to really enjoy this meal.  Then it was back to the hotel to pack for our early morning train trip to Bruges.